In order to pass a suture through a tubular organ or other structure in a body (a human body or an animal), it is necessary to traverse the bodily structure, tissue or organ completely and encircle the area where the physician or medical technician wishes to place the suture. This traverse and encircle method works well in situations where easy access is available to the structure, tissue or organ and the item to be sutured is easily viewed by the physician. In limited access situations (for example, in laposcopic surgery, cardiac surgery and vascular surgery), the traverse and encirclement by sutures is often times difficult, dangerous and at other times impossible.
As a further example, an attempt to suture a blood vessel through a small puncture wound is almost impossible. The direct suture of the arterial puncture is not possible.
The increasing utilization of minimally invasive surgical techniques has created a need for improved methods, suture systems and suture placement devices under adverse conditions of limited access and limited visibility of the suture site.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,046 to Janese discloses a dural sealing needle. The dural sealing needle includes a gelatin sealing compound that swells and sits between an impact cone cavity and an impact cone protrusion. Wings spread out based upon the swelling of the gelatin seal and assist in the retention of the suture seal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,990 to Nobles et al. discloses a suturing device which includes sutures having needle points at terminal ends of the suture wire. The sutures are made of NITINOL memory shape metal material. When the memory shape metal is freed from the lumen of a needle, the needle points, at the terminal ends of the metal sutures, flare out laterally beyond the lumen of the needle and the needle points are captured by suture catches which are also laterally disposed outboard of the needle. The catches pull the needle points and draw in the sutures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,364 to Kensey discloses a tubular body at the end of a suture thread which expands after being pushed out from the lumen of a delivery needle. In the lumen, the body is contracted or compressed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,330 to Hayhurst discloses an apparatus for anchoring cartilage. The anchor is deformed in the lumen of a delivery tube, is thereafter pushed from the tube and springs laterally outward upon exiting the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,040 to Mueller et al. disclose a T-shaped bar, having a length of 0.25 inches, at the end of a suture. The bar is held in place by a melted ball of material at the terminal end of the suture.